Recent Posts

We are pleased to announce that we have a new Combat Archaeology member, Dean Davidson, and are thereby expanding our organization to the United Kingdom! Over the years, our members have been in frequent contact with...

A Report from the Research Project Getaryggen 1567. In late autumn 1567, a Danish army led by the excellent commander Daniel Rantzau (fig. 1) advanced north from the border towards the Swedish castle of...

We would like to officially welcome a new member to Combat Archaeology, Claes B. Pettersson! His bio can be found below and in the members section. Combat Archaeology has been in frequent contact with Claes and has had...

Introduction Through ambushes and main force assaults, mankind has persisted in their violent conceits throughout history. Violent escapades rooted in rivalry and hatred have certainly added their share to the “slings...

Introduction Within the sheltered waters of Ronneby archipelago near the island of Stora Ekön, southeastern Sweden, lies the remains of a rather disjointed but well-preserved wooden wreck. The wreck, previously...

We would like to officially welcome a new member to Combat Archaeology, Thit Birk Petersen! Her bio can be found below and in the members section. Thit has recently written a small article on the subject of...

The islands of Lolland and Falster in southeastern Denmark are often considered rather uneventful areas which are seldom host to any major happening. This, however, was not always the case. These two islands, especially...

Introduction In recent decades, landscape archaeology has redefined wetlands, not simply as boundaries, but as dynamic areas that both housed and influenced the daily experiences of their inhabitants. While...

This month’s artefact are the fragments of a pair of mail chausses (leggings) brought into Oldsaksamlingen in Oslo in the 1800s (figs. 1 and 2). The chausses were brought in together with fragments of a mail...

The “Artefact of the Month” post for February is the early Neolithic genocide from Asparn-Schletz, Lower Austria. The site dates back to around 5200 BC and belonged to the so-called Linearbandkeramik culture or...

We are happy to announce that there has been shown a great interest in our session at Nordic TAG 2015! We received a multitude of emails regarding the session and are flattered by the many enquiries and words of...

A peculiar class of swords emerge in the earliest periods of the Danish Bronze Age, namely the curved sword. The specimens from Rørby Mose, western Zealand, are amongst some of the most impressive armament finds from...

The XV Nordic TAG 2015 conference will be held on the 16-18th April in Copenhagen. We hereby invite speakers to send abstracts (max. 200 words) for the following session which will be organized by Combat...

A Comment Regarding the Handedness of Anglo-Saxon and Viking Swords by Antti Ijäs The study of historical combat arts is comprised of archaeology, philology and practical experimentation. All of these domains have...

Here are a few photos from the Medieval messer seminar held on 6th December 2014 by our collaboration partner, Weapons Combat Systems (WCS). WCS is an effective martial arts system focusing on close quarter...

Artefact of the Month: The Dane Axe by Rolf W. Fabricius Our December artefact is the Viking broadaxe or the Dane axe. Appearing in the second half of the 10th century, the Dane axe is amongst first lines of the...

Combat Archaeology is an international organization committed to the promulgation of systematic and developed knowledge of the nature of combat and combat in the past. Our mission is to research, interpret and convey...

Combative Arts is a division of Combat Archaeology that is specifically devoted to the study of the art of combat. The efforts of this division are directed towards an understanding of the methods and nature of...

We have adopted the term “Combat Archaeology” to signify an aspect of archaeology that concerns itself with archaeological material of a combative nature. Technically defined, it is the study of or pertaining to the...

Every month, our website will feature a new artefact or find to which we hope to bring some attention. We hope to offer a broad variety of material, covering categories such as weapons, armour, human remains and...

Violence, vulgarity, and tragedy. These are inextricable features of combat. Consider it: combat and warfare – the mayhem and death that it produces; the destruction of civilizations; the endless cruelty and...

We are pleased to announce that we have a new Combat Archaeology member, Dean Davidson, and are thereby expanding our organization to the United Kingdom! Over the years, our members have been in frequent contact with...

A Report from the Research Project Getaryggen 1567. In late autumn 1567, a Danish army led by the excellent commander Daniel Rantzau (fig. 1) advanced north from the border towards the Swedish castle of...

We would like to officially welcome a new member to Combat Archaeology, Claes B. Pettersson! His bio can be found below and in the members section. Combat Archaeology has been in frequent contact with Claes and has had...

Introduction Through ambushes and main force assaults, mankind has persisted in their violent conceits throughout history. Violent escapades rooted in rivalry and hatred have certainly added their share to the “slings...

Introduction Within the sheltered waters of Ronneby archipelago near the island of Stora Ekön, southeastern Sweden, lies the remains of a rather disjointed but well-preserved wooden wreck. The wreck, previously...

We would like to officially welcome a new member to Combat Archaeology, Thit Birk Petersen! Her bio can be found below and in the members section. Thit has recently written a small article on the subject of...

The islands of Lolland and Falster in southeastern Denmark are often considered rather uneventful areas which are seldom host to any major happening. This, however, was not always the case. These two islands, especially...

Introduction In recent decades, landscape archaeology has redefined wetlands, not simply as boundaries, but as dynamic areas that both housed and influenced the daily experiences of their inhabitants. While...

This month’s artefact are the fragments of a pair of mail chausses (leggings) brought into Oldsaksamlingen in Oslo in the 1800s (figs. 1 and 2). The chausses were brought in together with fragments of a mail...

The “Artefact of the Month” post for February is the early Neolithic genocide from Asparn-Schletz, Lower Austria. The site dates back to around 5200 BC and belonged to the so-called Linearbandkeramik culture or...

We are happy to announce that there has been shown a great interest in our session at Nordic TAG 2015! We received a multitude of emails regarding the session and are flattered by the many enquiries and words of...

A peculiar class of swords emerge in the earliest periods of the Danish Bronze Age, namely the curved sword. The specimens from Rørby Mose, western Zealand, are amongst some of the most impressive armament finds from...

The XV Nordic TAG 2015 conference will be held on the 16-18th April in Copenhagen. We hereby invite speakers to send abstracts (max. 200 words) for the following session which will be organized by Combat...

A Comment Regarding the Handedness of Anglo-Saxon and Viking Swords by Antti Ijäs The study of historical combat arts is comprised of archaeology, philology and practical experimentation. All of these domains have...

Artefact of the Month: The Dane Axe by Rolf W. Fabricius Our December artefact is the Viking broadaxe or the Dane axe. Appearing in the second half of the 10th century, the Dane axe is amongst first lines of the...

Combat Archaeology is an international organization committed to the promulgation of systematic and developed knowledge of the nature of combat and combat in the past. Our mission is to research, interpret and convey...

We have adopted the term “Combat Archaeology” to signify an aspect of archaeology that concerns itself with archaeological material of a combative nature. Technically defined, it is the study of or pertaining to the...

Violence, vulgarity, and tragedy. These are inextricable features of combat. Consider it: combat and warfare – the mayhem and death that it produces; the destruction of civilizations; the endless cruelty and...

We are pleased to announce that we have a new Combat Archaeology member, Dean Davidson, and are thereby expanding our organization to the United Kingdom! Over the years, our members have been in frequent contact with...

Here are a few photos from the Medieval messer seminar held on 6th December 2014 by our collaboration partner, Weapons Combat Systems (WCS). WCS is an effective martial arts system focusing on close quarter...

Combat Archaeology is an international organization committed to the promulgation of systematic and developed knowledge of the nature of combat and combat in the past. Our mission is to research, interpret and convey...

Combative Arts is a division of Combat Archaeology that is specifically devoted to the study of the art of combat. The efforts of this division are directed towards an understanding of the methods and nature of...

Introduction Within the sheltered waters of Ronneby archipelago near the island of Stora Ekön, southeastern Sweden, lies the remains of a rather disjointed but well-preserved wooden wreck. The wreck, previously...

The islands of Lolland and Falster in southeastern Denmark are often considered rather uneventful areas which are seldom host to any major happening. This, however, was not always the case. These two islands, especially...

This month’s artefact are the fragments of a pair of mail chausses (leggings) brought into Oldsaksamlingen in Oslo in the 1800s (figs. 1 and 2). The chausses were brought in together with fragments of a mail...

The “Artefact of the Month” post for February is the early Neolithic genocide from Asparn-Schletz, Lower Austria. The site dates back to around 5200 BC and belonged to the so-called Linearbandkeramik culture or...

A peculiar class of swords emerge in the earliest periods of the Danish Bronze Age, namely the curved sword. The specimens from Rørby Mose, western Zealand, are amongst some of the most impressive armament finds from...

Artefact of the Month: The Dane Axe by Rolf W. Fabricius Our December artefact is the Viking broadaxe or the Dane axe. Appearing in the second half of the 10th century, the Dane axe is amongst first lines of the...

Every month, our website will feature a new artefact or find to which we hope to bring some attention. We hope to offer a broad variety of material, covering categories such as weapons, armour, human remains and...